Many of the volunteers came from different church groups throughout Woodland, including Rev. Elizabeth Brick, pastor of the United Methodist Church on North Street.

"I am here because I think we are a stronger community when we show up for community projects," she said. Brick was there with other individuals from her church, shoveling gravel and mulch, all while wearing a smile.

The workday was organized by individuals from Woodland Ecumenical Ministries, Fourth & Hope, and Friends of the Mission. This is the first year that a volunteer event honoring King has taken place.

"We're hoping it could be an annual event," Scott Thurmond of Friends of the Mission said.

Friends of the Mission is an organization that works to develop housing for the homeless population throughout Yolo County.

The workday was divided into two shifts, and between these shifts, volunteers were invited to the Greater Second Baptist Church for a service honoring both King and Nelson Mandela. The service was a collaboration between Second Baptist and the African American Steering Committee.

According to Thurmond, funding for the workday came from a City of Woodland Community Development Block Grant. The grant, totaling approximately $26,000, was distributed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to Fourth & Hope to help fund improvement projects.

Thurmond said that the workday was just the first phase. More construction and landscaping projects are planned and will continue to utilize grant funding.

Doug Zeck, chief operations officer at Fourth & Hope said that volunteers cleaned up the courtyard to create a "serene type of atmosphere" for Walter's House guests.

Walter's House is a residential substance abuse program, which houses individuals at the Second Street location. The courtyard receives a lot of traffic from clients of this program, and is a place where they can interact with each other.

Thurmond said that the courtyard has had grass planted before, but due to the amount of foot-traffic the area receives, the grass always dies. Artificial turf is a "more durable surface," and will be installed at a later date.

Volunteers worked to shovel and remove gravel from the area, making room for the artificial turf that will be placed there. In addition to Walter's House, Fourth & Hope operates an emergency shelter and a Family Transitional Program that houses residents at the Second Street location. Some of the residents of these programs volunteered as well.

Randy Tryon, director of treatment at Walter's House, said that he purchased 29 drought-friendly plants to go along the wall of Walter's House to create a privacy hedge for residents. Volunteers helped Tryon remove the old shrubs across the wall, replacing them with new ones.

Volunteer Becky Robinson served as a board member at Fourth & Hope for four years. During her time there, she helped develop a skills-learning course for Fourth & Hope residents to receive hands-on training in landscaping.

While that program is no longer available, Robinson enjoyed being able to help with landscaping again alongside other church groups and was surprised by how many different churches showed up.

Events like these are "giving churches a chance to accept each other and learn to work together," she said.